I am in the good fortune of having an extraordinary book of my family's genealogy from my dad's aunt, my great Aunt Dot. I was re-reading it recently as an adult - the last time I did a complete read I was only 10! - and, of course, reading through it made me curious about several new things with adult eyes and a far more profoundly useful internet at my fingertips than what was available in 1987.
One point of curiosity was: my earliest patrilineal confirmed descendant, John Ramer, bought some land to build a highway in the forests of Vermont. My aunt found the land record, which recorded the following scintillating details in 1798:
But also, something useful: the land in question is largely within the boundaries of the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests. In very little time, I'd even found a web form to email the rangers who work on the ground there. We live in the future, y'all.
Thus, this Sunday, I wrote with only a little hope of getting a response (if the web form miraculously worked, which it did! Go Forest Service!):
First was the gentleman who received the initial email, Jeff, who re-routed my inquiry:
Tim responded in quick order and as with the first, this new email and correspondent made me smile. I imagine these are the kind of gentlemen I could happily listen to the 99% Invisible podcast with and expect lively conversation about it afterwards.
One point of curiosity was: my earliest patrilineal confirmed descendant, John Ramer, bought some land to build a highway in the forests of Vermont. My aunt found the land record, which recorded the following scintillating details in 1798:
John Ramer bought NE 1/4 pt of UR7 -50A+ for making a road from Sunderland through Stratton to Newfane.Curious, I wandered over to Google Maps to see if there was any evidence of a highway or even a road from this intended endeavour. Nothing but green, baby.
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| Sunderland to Stratton, VT |
Thus, this Sunday, I wrote with only a little hope of getting a response (if the web form miraculously worked, which it did! Go Forest Service!):
I was reading an old genealogy book on my family and encountered this description of a land record from 1798: "John Ramer bought NE 1/4 pt of UR7 -50A+ for making a road from Sunderland through Stratton to Newfane." I was curious and looked up the area on Google maps but didn't see any evidence of a modern descendant of this road. Is there any remaining evidence that a road was built with this path? I figured if anyone knows, it's the forest rangers :)To my great delight, I had not one by two replies in my email this morning!
First was the gentleman who received the initial email, Jeff, who re-routed my inquiry:
Good morning, Tim:There are Forest Archaeologists? Guys, my world is a better place. How cool is that? I want to be a Forest Archaeologist when I grow up. And I bet we have them where I live in Washington state. New goals!
I had the cheek to label this "high importance, " simply because it seems to me one of those historical things that we ought to be able to tell people, and I am hoping that as Forest Archaeologist you will suppose that an abandoned road is in your province (no pun intended). If you tell me to turn elsewhere for information on this issue, then the person inquiring will know that there may be longer to wait or that the riddle may go unsolved. Thank you in advance for your response, either way.
Tim responded in quick order and as with the first, this new email and correspondent made me smile. I imagine these are the kind of gentlemen I could happily listen to the 99% Invisible podcast with and expect lively conversation about it afterwards.
Greetings and salutations!So, next stop: an excuse to look at some very old maps! (Yes, Europeans, I know you think we Americans are cute with out "19th century is old" business. Just smile, nod and pat us on our proverbial little heads, heh.)
This is of "high importance" in my book! 1798, hmm. This would be "too new" to be portrayed on the Whitelaw's map of 1796. Maybe try looking at some of the later maps. There is a map by McClellan from 1856 and the 1869 Beers Atlas for that area. There is a good chance that the road was still in use by the locals in the 1860's. I only have the overview versions of these maps, there are more detailed ones out there. You could most definitely try your local library or the historical society to have a look at what they have, that's where I would start. I would also check the roads records from Sunderland, this could help a bit. Good luck!
